Tasmanian tiger— back from the dead

The return of the Tasmanian tiger - 10th October 2022

The University of Melbourne's planning something special. Scientists want to bring back the Tasmanian tiger. This animal lived in Tasmania. The last one died nearly 100 years ago.

The Tasmanian tiger's striped, like a tiger, but it looks like a dog. It's a marsupial, like a kangaroo. There's a "pocket" on the animal's stomach. The pockets hold their babies.

Last century, people killed Tasmanian tigers. They said the animals killed sheep.

Now, scientists will use DNA from a "dunnart". A dunnart's a different type of marsupial. Scientists will change that DNA. Then a dunnart mother will carry the new baby, before it's born. It sounds strange – the dunnart's small, like a mouse. But the Tasmanian tiger and dunnart babies start life very small. They're the size of one piece of rice.

Some people aren't happy about this project. But for others, the tigers are important for Tasmania.